Neonatal intense care units (NICUs) provide specialized medical care to newborns immediately after birth and for as long as required, often several days or even weeks. While the care infants receive at any point during their stay at the NICU is very important, the first hour after birth, often referred to as the golden hour, is recognized as the most critical to their long term well-being. The level of specialization and training of the staff and the overall capabilities of the NICU facilities are crucial to achieving the medical needs of infants. In the US alone, approximately 100,000 newborns are placed in the NICU every year, with an average stay that ranges from 5.9 days for full term infants to 46.2 days for pre-term infants delivered at less than 32 weeks of gestation.
While the two most common reasons for admission to specialized care nurseries are preterm gestation and respiratory related symptoms, many infants are admitted for observation of other conditions, such as suspected infection, neonatal jaundice, hypoglycemia, and newborn septicemia. NICUs may be demanding and stressful environments where immediate response may be needed. In NICUs, visual cues provide much of information that caregivers rely upon to make decisions, perform functions (such as drawing blood) and monitor developmental changes. Thus, examination lights that facilitate quick and accurate visual functions are a fundamental tool in NICUs of any level of care. Lighting is also considered to be a significant environmental variable for promoting healthy development in newborns.